Duke Advances to ACC Semifinals Following 4-0 Victory over North Carolina

Friday, April 19

Cary, N.C.

10 a.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Duke Advances to ACC Semifinals Following 4-0 Victory over North Carolina

4/19/2024 6:46:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM – No. 12 Duke men's tennis defeated No. 28 North Carolina, 4-0, at Cary Tennis Park on Friday to advance to the ACC Championship Semifinals.

The fourth-seeded Blue Devils, who will be making their second consecutive appearance in the conference semifinals, will next face No. 2 and top-seeded Virginia on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.

Sophomore Pedro Rodenas earned his second match-clinching victory of the year to help Duke improve to 18-8. North Carolina falls to 14-9.

How It Happened

The Blue Devils made quick work of the Tar Heels in doubles action earning wins on court two and one, respectively, to earn the point. No. 70 Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang posted a 6-3 victory over Patrick Schoen and Peter Murphy on court two before No. 1 Garrett Johns and Rodenas tallied a 6-4 win over No. 31 Benjamin Kittay and Phillip Jordan on the top court. The match between Faris Khan and Teddy Truwit against Karl Poling and Will Peters went unfinished with North Carolina leading 6-5 when the doubles point was clinched.
No. 22 Johns extended the Blue Devils' edge to 2-0 in singles action when he bested Kittay by default on court one. The Atlanta, Ga., native won the first set 6-4 and was leading the second frame 4-3 when the match was called.
Rookie Alexander Visser then gave Duke its third point of the match on court five after his 6-4, 6-3 victory over Peters.
A short time later, No. 43 Rodenas secured the overall win for Duke by defeating Jordan on court two 7-6 (2), 7-5.
The matches on court three, four and six all went unfinished with two of the matches in a third set.

Notes

Duke improves to 9-4 against North Carolina in the postseason.
Rodenas notched his eighth career match-clinching win on Friday.
Rodenas earned his eighth consecutive victory in singles action, while Johns posted his fifth-straight win.
The duo also teamed up for their 10th consecutive doubles win and improved to 12-2 against nationally ranked foes this season.

Quotes
"I am very pleased with the win today. It was a great collective team effort. I knew it was going to be big challenge to play UNC again and it was. They are really tough and the match was much tighter than the final scoreline. Tomorrow we have another great opportunity and I know my guys will be prepared and ready to battle. We are looking forward to it." – Duke head coach Ramsey Smith on his thoughts from the match

Next Match
The Blue Devils have a quick turnaround as they face No. 2 and top-seeded Virginia on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the ACC Semifinals at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.

If Duke advances past the semifinals on Saturday, the Blue Devils will have a 10 a.m., championship match on Sunday against either second-seeded Wake Forest or sixth-seeded Florida State at Cary Tennis Park. The finals and semifinals will both be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Results
Doubles (2,1*)
1. #1 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. #31 Benjamin Kittay/Phillip Jordan (NC) 6-4
2. #70 Andrew Zhang/Michael Heller (DU) def. Patrick Schoen/Peter Murphy (NC) 6-3
3. Faris Khan/Teddy Truwit (DU) vs. Karl Poling/Will Peters (NC) 5-6, unfinished

Singles (1,5,2*)
1. #22 Garrett Johns (DU) def. Benjamin Kittay (NC) 6-4, 4-3, win by default
2. #43 Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. Phillip Jordan (NC) 7-6 (6-2), 7-5
3. Andrew Zhang (DU) vs. Patrick Schoen (NC) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, unfinished
4. Connor Krug (DU) vs. #81 Karl Poling (NC) 6-4, 4-6, 5-2, unfinished
5. Alexander Visser (DU) def. Will Peters (NC) 6-4, 6-3
6. Faris Khan (DU) vs. Anuj Watane (NC) 4-6, 5-4, unfinished

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMTEN".

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